The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories [Paperback]

Some call him a Russian Mark Twain. And with his special blend of comedy, social commentary, and fantasy, Nikolai Gogol paved the way for his countrymen Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. This sampling of Gogol’s works includes the increasingly fantastic entries of “The Diary of a Madman,” followed by the wonderfully surrealistic “The Nose,” in which the title character embarks on some unlikely activities when separated from its owner’s face. In “The Carriage,” a pompous landowner gets his comeuppance when he attempts to impress a general. Rounding out the collection are the woefully comic tale of a clerk’s acquisition of “The Overcoat” and the celebrated novella “Taras Bulba” about the Ukrainian mythic hero said to have led a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles.

Translated by Priscilla Meyer and Andrew R. McAndrew

With a New Introduction

and an Afterword by Priscilla Meyer

“The greatest artist that Russia has yet produced.”—Vladimir Nabokov

“Behind his laughter you feel the unseen tears.”—Alexander Pushkin

The son of a small landowner,Nikolai Gogol(1809–52) was educated at the Niezhin gymnasium, where he started a magazine and acted in student theatricals. In 1828, he went to St. Petersburg, obtained a government clerkship, and devoted himself to writing. In 1831–32, he published two volumes ofEvenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, a collection of stories based on Ukrainian folklore that was enthusiastically received. He next planned to write a history of Russia in the Middle Ages. The work never materialized, but the planning of it served to win him a chair of history at the University of St. Petersburg. Meanwhile, he published “Taras Bulba” and a number of short stories, including “The Overcoat.” On April 19, 1836, his famous comedyThe Inspector Generalwas prodl3.